Chapter 750: Guanzhong is actually a place of four wars?
When Ma Chao got the news, he was completely stunned.
Not only Ma Chao, but even a very wise man like Fa Zheng did not expect this.
It is conceivable how unusual this matter is.
The essence of the Han Dynasty was the five states of the Central Plains. Since the collapse of the Later Han Dynasty, all major wars had taken place in the Central Plains.
Whoever controls the Central Plains can control the world. This is recognized by people all over the world.
Guanxi and Liangzhou occupied by Ma Chao and Han Sui are already considered quite remote areas in this era.
So far, no Central Plains nobles have included Ma Chao in the ranks of princes who can compete for the world.
What Fa Zheng unremittingly pursued was to make Ma Chao one of the most powerful princes in the world and make people all over the world look at him with admiration.
But the news that came at this moment shocked both of them.
The King of Zhongxia actually attacked Liangzhou!
Liangzhou is already located in the western border of the Han Dynasty, and the farther western regions are almost in the barbaric areas.
No one has ever regarded the Western Regions as an opponent!
But at this moment, the King of Zhongxia told Ma Chao with bloody facts that the Western Regions were not an insignificant role.
When the Western Region army attacked Liangzhou, Ma Chao arranged for the garrison commander stationed in Liangzhou to report three times a day.
Because Ma Chao withdrew the army from Liang Province, the army in the Western Regions was able to advance like an unstoppable force. If this continued, the four counties in Hexi would all fall.
It is the key point connecting to the Western Regions. Once lost, Ma Chao's Yong State will be strategically passive.
After realizing this, Ma Chao no longer cared about continuing to fight with the defeated coalition of princes. After hastily cleaning up the battlefield, he led his troops westward to fight with the army from the Western Regions.
…
The King of Zhongxia looked at the mighty army, in which there were many monks and Taoists, who were chanting scriptures with the soldiers from the Western Regions. He held Buddhist beads in his left hand and a Taoist sword in his right hand, also praying, first chanting the name of the World Honored One and then the name of the Heavenly Honored One.
After the routine worship was completed, the King of Zhongxia said to the princes of the Western Regions with great enthusiasm: "How many years have we been preparing?
Today we have finally succeeded in setting foot on the land of Liangzhou. This is just the beginning. We will conquer Liangzhou, then Guanzhong, and finally Central Plains.
After we capture Chang'an, I will build the largest Taoist temple and Buddhist temple in the city, and move the Temple of Suwang to Chang'an.
When we invade the Central Plains, I will build a temple in Luoyang, the capital of the gods, that is even better than the White Horse Temple, and engrave Buddhist and Taoist scriptures on the city walls of Luoyang."
The faith in the Central Plains is not prosperous. This is the biggest feeling of the nobles from the Western Regions along the way.
Although there are many people who believe in Taoism and Buddhism, compared with the thousands of miles of Buddhist and Taoist countries in the Western Regions, this place is simply a desert.
How is this possible?
The nobles of the Western Regions have an obligation to contribute to the glory of the magnificent Buddhism!
Looking at the ministers with different expressions, King Zhongxia nodded secretly in his heart.
After so many years of integration by him, although the problem of the division of Zhongxia Kingdom has not been completely solved, it is at least much better than before when it was forced together. At least it will not explode directly after a failure.
Ma Chao, who was galloping here, finally saw the King of Zhongxia and the army of Zhongxia who were brazenly attacking Liangzhou.
Then he gasped and looked at Fa Zheng in disbelief, "How can the strength of the Western Region be so strong?"
Fa Zheng was also very confused. Since the Later Han Dynasty, the Central Plains didn't know much about the Western Regions. They didn't know the population size or the situation inside the territory. There were only passing caravans shuttling back and forth to make money.
After all, even Guanxi was considered the border for fighting against the Qiang people. Who would pay attention to the more distant Western Regions thousands of miles away from the capital?
The Western Regions Army that now appeared in front of Ma Chao and Fa Zheng consisted of tens of thousands of elite infantry and cavalry, and their armor ratio was not inferior to that of the Han Army!
The Han Dynasty knew that the Western Regions had excellent forging technology and was not a barbaric place.
This strength should not be underestimated among all the princes in the world.
In particular, the combination of troops in the Western Regions is quite reasonable. The Western Regions cavalry, who are largely of nomadic origin, are not afraid of the Xiliang cavalry at all.
Fa Zheng suddenly reacted and said with a rather grim expression: "When Wushuang Zhongwu Hou entered the Central Plains, he seemed to have brought tens of thousands of troops from the Western Regions.
We should have thought of this long ago. If Wushuang Zhongwu Hou can bring so many troops, how can the King of Zhongxia, who has unified the Western Regions, not be able to do it?"
Ma Chao's scalp tingled, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Xiaozhi, what should we do now?"
He didn't want to confront the King of Zhongxia head-on at all. It was never too much to be on high alert against an opponent he didn't know well.
Fa Zheng sighed, his eyes were clear, he said seriously: "My king, there is no other way but to fight.
The King of Zhongxia wants to go east, and the Hexi Corridor is the only way out. Do you want to give up the Hexi Corridor?
After giving up the Hexi Corridor, the Western Region Army will enter Guanzhong. Do you still want to give up Guanzhong?
If this is the case, then it would be better to surrender directly and follow the King of Zhongxia to march eastward."
Upon hearing this, Ma Chao clenched the spear in his hand. It was absolutely impossible for two people with conflicting strategic goals to get along.
As soon as he thought of this, Ma Chao sent an envoy to the King of Zhongxia's tent and said to him, "I wonder why the King wants to enter the Central Plains? Isn't it a good thing to be alone in the Western Regions?"
The King of Zhongxia laughed loudly upon hearing this and said, "Go back and tell King Yong that he is a citizen of Zhuxia, and I am also a citizen of Zhuxia. The world of Zhuxia is fought for by the Han people, and we, the people of the Western Regions, can also fight for it.
I have heard that the prince of Yong is more brave than ordinary people. I am fond of talents. If the prince of Yong is willing to surrender to me, I am willing to give the princess to him so that he can keep his title forever. "
When the messenger brought back the King of Zhongxia's words to Ma Chao, Ma Chao was naturally furious. He even smashed a wine glass and said angrily: "The King of Zhongxia is hateful. What a lowly person, how dare he speak to me like this."
When Ma Chao said this, he probably did not expect that if the world had not been in chaos, his status and position would probably not be as high as the current King of Zhongxia.
After all, the King of Zhongxia was a great noble of the former Liu family's Wusun Kingdom before he became king.
With this kind of status and position, in the Central Plains, one would at least be a family of officials with a salary of 2,000 stones, which is much better than Ma Teng's family's background of being woodcutters.
Ma Chaoyue was getting angrier and angrier. He really felt insulted. What kind of scumbag wanted to recruit him?
Thinking of this, Ma Chao said directly to Fa Zheng: "Xiaozhi, since the King of the Western Regions is unwilling to retreat, then attack and let them see the power of my Western Liang Iron Cavalry.
Before the New Year next year, I will celebrate the New Year with the Xiliang Iron Cavalry."
Although Ma Chao was shocked by the powerful strength of the Western Regions, he was more confident in his own army, which was a powerful army that had just defeated Han Sui and the coalition forces of the Xiliang generals.
The King of Zhongxia was also encouraging his army. He also had extremely strong confidence in his army, especially the royal guards directly under his command.
This army followed him all the way from the land of Wusun and participated in almost every war to unify the area north of the Tianshan Mountains. In every battle, as long as the Imperial Guards took action, victory was the outcome.
They were also quite brave when facing the Hu army that invaded the Western Regions.
The two men, both of whom were very confident in their own armies, started the destined war on the vast grassland and Gobi.
Back then, Luo Wuji and Huo Qubing led the Han cavalry to attack the Xiongnu tribes here, and eventually drove them away from Yanzhi Mountain and Qilian Mountain, and the Han people took root here.
This land is a natural battlefield for cavalry, and the view is so vast that it is basically unavoidable.
The world's elite Xiliang Cavalry and Western Region Cavalry encountered their second clash.
The first clash was naturally between Luo Kong and Dong Zhuo. At that time, due to the numerical disadvantage, the Western Regions Iron Cavalry was defeated by the Western Liang Iron Cavalry.
What about this time?
The land of the Western Regions has always had the habit of having the commander-in-chief lead the way, because here there is a habit of respecting the strong, and only the bravest warriors can gain the respect of everyone.
However, the King of Zhongxia knew his importance to the Zhongxia Kingdom, so he just stayed in the central army and ordered the former rulers of the Western Regions who had surrendered to him and the nobles who had now been canonized as marquises by him to attack.
Ma Chao, who was an extraordinary martial artist, naturally had to lead the army in person. Fa Zheng would come up with strategies for him, and he would be responsible for implementing them. This was how the two had been working together, and so far, they had never suffered a defeat.
…
Another strong wind came, and yellow sand rolled everywhere.
Beneath the sand and dust were corpses that had bled to death, with various causes of death. They were so densely packed that no one knew how many there were. Among them were Han people and people from Western Regions.
If it weren't for the dry environment in Hexi, if it were the dry environment in the south, there would probably be another plague.
The war in the Western Regions and Guanzhong has lasted for four full months!
Both sides misjudged the opponent's strength. This was not a crushing victory for either side, but rather a stalemate between two evenly matched opponents.
This is the most feared situation in war.
In the vast Hexi Corridor, from the Gobi Desert to the foot of the farmland and mountains, the corpses of the Western Region Army and the Yong State Army were everywhere.
No one can count the exact number of casualties.
During this process, Ma Chao and the King of Zhongxia may have thought about stopping, but as soon as they talked, they realized that it was impossible.
The King of Zhongxia could not retreat back to the Western Regions. He would never retreat before the blood of other rulers in the Western Regions was shed.
As long as the Imperial Guards are still there, his strength will be the strongest, and he can continue to drive others to consume Ma Chao's army.
Moreover, the King of Zhongxia had long planned to attack Liangzhou, so he moved the political center to the Dunhuang border early on. After occupying Dunhuang County, he moved all the scholars and others in Dunhuang County to the Western Regions, and replaced all the people who managed the county with monks and Taoists who came with the army.
These monks and Taoists were literate intellectuals and were capable of accomplishing this task.
Ma Chao watched helplessly as the number of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was depleted, and he felt his heart bleeding.
They could only make up their minds with great difficulty to draw troops from the Qiang tribe and Guanzhong, and at the same time re-arm the previously captured Xiliang cavalry and send them to this battlefield.
The plan previously discussed with Fa Zheng to take over the entire Guanxi area and then spy on Shuzhong has completely failed!
We can only invest all the resources at our disposal into this war.
People of insight on both sides have realized that this war is unlikely to end in a short period of time, and in the end it will just depend on who can hold on first.
This is a life-and-death war.
But Ma Chao felt really aggrieved. If he lost, the King of Zhongxia would get Liangzhou and Guanzhong.
But if he won, he still wouldn't waste time attacking the Western Regions.
That land was too unfamiliar to him.
No one wants to do something where if they lose, they lose everything, and if they win, they gain nothing.
How could Ma Chao not go crazy?
He said rather depressedly: "I never imagined that one day Liangzhou and Guanzhong would become war zones."
Yes.
A place of four wars.
This is how Fa Zheng described their current situation to Ma Chao, and it was something Fa Zheng had not expected.
Both the Qin State and Emperor Gaozu had eliminated future troubles before leaving Guanzhong, but this so-called elimination of future troubles actually only reached Longxi.
But after three hundred years of development.
Faced with the cruel facts, Fa Zheng and Ma Chao had to tell the world one thing.
Times have changed!
Guanzhong is no longer the westernmost land of the Xia Dynasty!
To the west of Guanzhong is the Western Regions, which has always wanted to move eastward. The present-day Guanzhong is the Hedong and Heluo of the Zhou Dynasty, and the Western Regions is the original Guanzhong.
Today, Guanzhong has to defend against the Western Regions in the west, the grasslands in the north, and Hanzhong in the south, not to mention the east. Wugu Pass, Hangu Pass, and the river ferry have always been heavily guarded.
Although there are mountains and dangerous passes, it is an indisputable fact that Guanzhong is full of enemies.
Especially for enemies from the Western Regions, once they invaded Liangzhou, there would only be a few passes left standing in their way, among which Xiaoguan was the most difficult to defend.
This was the first time that Fa Zheng felt so powerless. Counsellors did not make decisions on a whim when giving advice and generals did not command troops on paper. Counsellors all had certain information and then deduced some things based on that information and then predicted local actions, just like generals leading their armies on a march did not just walk around randomly but judged the location based on countless pieces of information.
The biggest problem Fa Zheng is facing now is that he is completely in the dark about the Western Regions. The Yong Kingdom has no intelligence agency in the Western Regions and can only rely on some information obtained from the caravans, but it is of little use.
The King of Zhongxia, who had always wanted to get his hands on Guanzhong, knew the Central Plains very well. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat. In this war, it was quite normal for the Western Regions to gradually gain the upper hand.
As casualties grew, Ma Chao felt that he could not bear it any longer. He even had the idea of abandoning Liang Province and withdrawing all his troops into Guanzhong, defending the four passes of Guanzhong and relying on the dangerous passes to block the attack of the Western Regions Army.
After he told Fa Zheng about this idea, he thought that the always radical Fa Zheng would object, but he didn't expect that Fa Zheng was actually thinking about it. After Fa Zheng pondered for a moment, he slowly said: "Your Majesty, I have always been very worried about one thing, that is, the heavy casualties in the battle between our army and the Western Regions army. Do the princes of the Central Plains know about it?"
Ma Chao was shocked!
————
This war between the late Han warlord Ma Chao and the Western Regions Zhongxia Kingdom caused great damage to the Western Regions, Liangzhou, and Guanzhong in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, but it also had far-reaching significance. This was the first time that the princes of the Western Regions joined the ranks of the struggle for hegemony, which indirectly reflected that the Western Regions had basically integrated into the civilization of the various Xia. ——"History of Wars in the Late Eastern Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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